Monday with Mounce

The NIV footnote to Jude 1 alerted me to a great example of the challenges of the dative case. The second part of the salutation reads, “To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father (τοῖς ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ ἠγαπημένοις) and kept for Jesus Christ (Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ τετηρημένοις).” The NIV goes with “in” for ἐν, although its meaning is not immediately apparent, and it goes with “for” for the dative Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ. The footnote reds, “Or by; or in.”

The final sequence of events in Matthew 28 raises an interesting question about the δέ in v 16 and illustrates how words can have different meanings in different contexts.

There’s a world of difference between the words “should” and “must.” When my wife tells me I should exercise more, I know she’s right. It’s good advice. But there’s still a sense that I have a choice. On the other hand, after I experienced an atrial fibrillation episode while preaching recently—something dehydration may have contributed to—my doctor told me I must drink more water. That wasn’t a suggestion. It was a necessity.

First of all, let me apologize for being so erratic in producing these Monday with Mounce blogs. BiblicalTraining.org now has a new president and so my time has opened up to get back to Greek. I also want to tell you about an important update on my Interlinear Bible. 

The translation of σάρξ has caused lots of grief over the years. BDAG gives it the semantic range of “flesh, physical body, a living being with flesh, human/mortal nature, earthly descent, the outward side of life.” Paul often uses it to describe the weak, sinful, human condition. So how should it be translated?